Display case



March 17, 1959 F. s. HOLDERLE ET AL 2,

' DISPLAY CASE Filed May 1-3, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l HARVEY a R HOLDERLE' 5 INVENTdR'. 2 FREDERICK SHOLDERLEl 4ND NORBERT En. HOLDERLE THEIR A TTORIIEY March 17, 1959 F. s. HOLDERLE ET AL 2,878,090

DISPLAY CASE v I i l :1

Filed May 13, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g 191 I' ll I 5 a 5'; E: I II I I I l 5 4 J3 i FREDERICK S. HOLDER/.5. HARVEY (Z RHOLDERLE AND IVORBERT EWHOLDERLE BY mh THE IR ATTORNEY United States Patent-C DISPLAY CASE Frederick S. Holderle, Harvey C. R. Holderle, and Norbert F. W. Holderle, Rochester, N. Y.

Application May 13, 1957, Serial No. 658,856

1 Claim. (Cl. 312-114) and has for its purpose to provide a generally U-shaped case consisting of a front portion and legs or parallel extensions spaced from each other and aifording an aisle therebetween.

Another purpose is to afford a display case consisting of a U-shaped base unit having a front portion and rearwardly extending side portions to which can be attached any selected number of rectangular sections corresponding in width to said side portions and with an aisle therebetween, so that a complete case can easily be formed with one or more additional sections on either or both sides of the base unit depending on the requirements of the case.

Another purpose is to provide means whereby additional sections can be readily added to produce a U-shaped case of any desired length in its extensions or added sections, the transparent panels and added sections being easily and securely attachable to the U-shaped base unit, and affording a complete unitary U-shaped structure of selected size and with any desired number of additional sections.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claim following the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a display case constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, including a U-shaped base unit and one additional section;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction indicated;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction indicated;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the corner panel fastening means;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a U-shaped base unit;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the U-shaped base unit with one additional section on each side, and

Fig. 9 is a similar view with two additional sections on each side.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, the display case of the invention includes a U-shaped base unit consisting of a front portion 1 and rearwardly extending side portions 2, see Figs. 1 and 2. 3 designates sliding doors at the rear of the front portion 1 between the side portions 2, while 4 is a counter or work shelf between the side portions 2.

A single base unit may be used as shown in Fig. 7, or additional sections may be employed as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, or one or more such additional sections may be employed on one side only as in Fig. 1. Each ofthe additional sections is of rectangular form and has a width corresponding to the width of the side portions of the'base unit so that when attached, it forms a continuation of the side portion with an aisle between opposite sections, and a shelf or work table on both sides of the aisle. The base unit and additional sections include transparent top and side panels, and the structure by which a section is attached to the base unit will now be described.

Referring to Figs. 3, 4, and 5, reference numerals 5 and 6 designate the top panels of the base unit and additional section respectively, while 7 and 8 designate the side panels of the base unit and additional section respectively, the top panels being joined by H-bars 9. The base 11 has attached thereto the flanged plates 12 which engage the lower portions of the vertical panels 7 and 8, While 13 designates upstanding flanges on the base unit and additional section which are held together by a U-shaped retaining bar 14.

The vertical and top panels are held together at their upper ends by a clip consisting of a U-shaped top portion 15 embracing the adjacent portions of the top panels, and a U-shaped bottom portion 16 embracing the adjacent portions of the vertical panels and welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the portion 15 as shown in Fig. 3. The panels and clip are secured by a bracket 17, which is welded to the U-shaped portion 16, and 18 designates a U-shaped retaining bar having its forward end bolted to the bracket 17 and its rear end bolted to a bracket 19 which is welded to a plate 21, the latter being bolted or otherwise fastened to shelf bars 22, or other fixed uprights in the case.

The retaining bar 18 has a pivotal connection with the brackets 17 and 19, so that before the fastening bolts are secured, the retaining bar can be shifted angularly to the panel retaining clip, to permit bringing the clip into assembled position in relation to the top and side panels, after which the fastening bolts are tightened to hold the retaining bar 18 in place. Thus the top and side panels of the base unit and the additional section are attached together and securely held in place.

As additional sections are added, each is attached to the base unit or to an adjacent section by fastening means such as described above, and by which one or more sections can be quickly added on one or both sides of the base unit as desired.

Each additional section includes a shelf or work table 23 in the plane of the work table 4 and adjacent to a center aisle 24 located between opposite sections, thus affording a complete U-shaped display case with legs or sides of any length built up from separate sections readily attachable to either side of the base unit or to another section.

In order to fasten the top and side panels at the end of a side portion of the base unit or of an added section, a structure such as shown in Fig. 6 is employed, and including a clip consisting of a right angle top U-shaped portion 25 open at one side for engaging the corner of the top panel, and an integral or rigidly attached bottom right angle U-shaped portion 26 open at the bottom for engaging the adjacent portions of the side panels. The portion 26 is cut away to afford an inverted V-shaped slot 27 which enables fitting the clip readily to the vertical panels, and 28 designates an extension or bar provided with a bracket 29 that is fastened to a shelf bar 31, or other fixed upright of the case, in order to anchor the bar 28 and panel fastening clip in position. 32 is a clip carried by the bar 28 for engaging the adjacent top transparent panel.

While the invention has been described in relation to the structure disclosed, it is not confined to the details of construction set forth, and this application is intended to cover such modifications or departures as may come within the purposes of the improvement or the scope of the following claim. I

- We claim: I 1

' A U-shaped display case comprising a rectangular front portion, rectangular side portions extending rearwardly from the ends of said front portion, doors arranged centrally at the rear of said front portion and extending from one to the other of said side portions, a work table occupying the area in rear of said doors and flush with the bottoms of said doors, said work table having a length the same as the distance between said side portions and a width throughout its length extending from said front portion to the rear of the side portions, and additional rectangular side portions detachably secured to the first mentioned side portions and to each other and eX- tending rearwardly, each of said side portions being detachably secured to another side portion and having a width the same as the first mentioned side portions, each of said detachable side portions having a work table extending the length of said side portion abutting, con

4 a U-shaped case can be assembled having side portions of any selected length and afiording an aisle between said side portions surrounded onthree sides with a continuous work table bounding said aisle.

References Cited in the file of this patent 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 106,014 Anderson Sept. 14, 1937 D. 129,258 James Sept. 2, 1941 D. 139,208 Bovers Oct. 24, 1944 283,374 Bufiord Aug. 21, 1883 839,639 Pulfer Dec. 25, 1906 1,584,035 Knox May 11, 1926 1,599,911 Morehart Sept. 14, 1926 1,744,081 Reid Ian. 21, 1930 1,818,606 Burks Aug. 11, 1931 1,831,698 Bauder Nov. 10,1931 1,966,964 Kennedy July 17, 1934 2,168,911 Meyer Aug. 8, 1939 2,171,378 Urbanek Aug. 29,1939

tiguous and flush with an adjacent work table whereby I 

